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Differential Utilization Of Allochthonous And Autochthonous Carbon By Aquatic Insects Of Two Shrub-Steppe Desert Spring-Streams: A Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis And Critique Of The Method, Alfred Lynn Mize
Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations
Stable carbon isotope analysis, a technique that measures the ratio of stable carbon-12 to stable carbon-13 in abiotic and biotic components of ecosystems, was used to assess the differential utilization of autochthonous and allochthonous carbon by aquatic insects of two cold desert spring-streams in the Columbia Basin of Washington State. The aquatic insects of Snively Springs, a heavily overgrown and densely shaded stream, has isotopic values close to that of stream aufwuchs (substrata scrubate) indicating substantial autochthonous carbon dependence. Aquatic insects of Douglas Creek, the more open and less shaded of the two streams, were equally dependent upon autochthonous and …